Eleven finalists, one from each Collier County high school team, for the National Football Foundation scholarship enter a banquet honoring them at The Restaurant at Quail Village Golf Club On Monday, April 16, 2018.
Adam Fisher/Naples Daily News

After playing football at Army, Pete Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy, served as a decorated military general, and became a Wall Street executive. He wholeheartedly believes that playing the sport can set you up for success later in life.

That’s why Dawkins is such a big supporter of the National Football Foundation, the 72-year-old organization that seeks to use amateur football to create upstanding citizens. So when Dawkins was approached by the new NFF chapter in his new part-time home of Naples, he was eager to help.

Dawkins has stepped in it help bolster the Collier County chapter in its second year. The Dawkins Family Foundation is the new sponsor the NFF banquet, which honors one nominee from all 11 high school football teams in the county, and Dawkins will speak at the event while receiving the chapter’s Distinguished American Award.

Pete Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy in 1958 as an All-American halfback at Army. Dawkins, a part-time Naples resident, will be honored at the National Football Foundation's Collier County chapter banquet on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019.(Photo: Submitted)

“I’ve been associated with many different chapters (of the NFF) and have great respect for that organization,” Dawkins said. “Because I’ve been associated and involved with (the NFF) so long, I’d like to help them have a good kickoff with this dinner. The nicest way to help is to sponsor it.”

Dawkins's foundation is sponsoring the banquet in honor of his son, Sean, who died 10 years ago from a previously unknown heart defect.

The Collier County chapter holds its second banquet at 6 p.m. Monday at Kensington Golf & Country Club. Each of the National Football Foundation’s 120 chapters in 47 states award college scholarships to senior high school football players based on athletics, academics and citizenship.

Dawkins is a big draw for the Collier chapter, formed less than two years ago. Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy in 1958 as an All-American halfback at Army, and he plans to bring the trophy with him to Monday’s NFF banquet.

After attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, Dawkins served more than 20 years in the military, earning two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam before retiring with the rank of brigadier general.

Pete Dawkins served more than 20 years in the military after winning the 1958 Heisman Trophy at Army, retiring with the rank of brigadier general. Dawkins, a part-time Naples resident, will be honored at the National Football Foundation's Collier County chapter banquet on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019.(Photo: Submitted)

Dawkins and his late wife Judi bought a home in Naples three years ago.

In 2007, Dawkins and Roger Staubach were co-recipients of the NFF’s Gold Medal, the foundation’s highest honor. Connecting with Dawkins is just part of the Collier County chapter's rapid growth in its second year.

Last year, at the first banquet, chapter organizers were hoping to give away a $1,000 scholarship to one winner out of the 11 nominees. They raised enough to hand out $16,000, including one $10,000 grant to overall winner Anthony Robinson of Golden Gate, who is playing football at Ithaca.

Thanks to a growing sponsorship base, this year the NFF chapter of Collier County has raised enough money to give away a scholarship to all 11 nominees. The exact amounts are not yet determined, but one overall winner will once again receive the Joanne and George Downing Career Building Scholarship for $10,000 over four years ($2,500 per year of college on the condition of maintaining a 2.5 grade-point average).

Last year Golden Gate High School's Anthony Robinson won the National Football Foundation Collier County Chapter's inaugural Joanne and George Downing Career Building Scholarship worth $10,000. The Downing scholarship will be awarded again at this year's banquet, Monday, Feb. 25, at Kensington Golf & Country Club.(Photo: Submitted)

Most of the donations came from private citizens in town, like George Downing and Pete Dawkins.

“It really didn’t surprise me knowing the people that live in Naples and the goodness of their hearts,” chapter president and founder Matt Sellitto said of the charitable donations. “Now the magic is, can we maintain this year after year.”

The finalists for this year’s NFF Collier County chapter awards are:

• Ryan Bloch, Barron Collier

• Parker Weiss, Community School

• Thomas Casey, First Baptist Academy

• Jordan Williams, Golden Gate

• Luke Baker, Gulf Coast

• Henry Garcia, Immokalee

• Kenneth Anyaehie, Lely

• Joshua Ames, Marco Island Academy

• Jett Su, Naples

• Nathaniel Rounds-Seitz, Palmetto Ridge

• Mauricio Santamarina, St. John Neumann

Also at the banquet, the chapter is debuting two new awards. Community School athletic director and retired Air Force colonel Bart Weiss will receive the Collier County Legends Award. Longtime local sports official Robb Mackett will receive the Contributions to the Game Award.

Weiss led Naples High to an undefeated season as a senior quarterback in 1981. He went on to play at Air Force, where he became the fourth player in NCAA history at the time to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in the same season. After serving as a pilot and colonel in the Air Force, he became vice director of athletics at the academy before coming home to Naples and taking the AD job at Community School in 2015.

Mackett is a football official and an assignor for the Greater Naples Officials Association. He has been a board member with the GNOA since it was formed five years ago.

The NFF banquet is open to the public. Tickets are $65, which includes dinner. Contact Sellitto at 973-432-0455 for more information.